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“What? Hell yeah,” she said, grinning as she brushed imaginary debris from my flannel. Ridiculous satisfaction swelled in my chest, knowing that she was electively touching me. “He here?”
“Yeah,sheis. Come on.” My gaze darted to Axel—who looked too damn happy—before grabbing her hand and leading her through the space until we got to Rosalie, where she was relaxed in a back booth. Bright white teeth gleamed as she saw us, and then she was on her feet.
“Hey James, who’s your friend?”
“Hey Rose, this is Noel. Noel, this is Rosalie. She’s the mastermind behind Arctic Zest.”
“Oh! Cute name, I love that.” Noel reached out a hand, beaming when Rose took it. “Nice to meet you—great stuff!”
“Thanks—twice! You new to town? I’ve never seen you around.”
“Yeah, I’ve been here a few weeks.”
“And this one already got his claws in you?” Rosalie jerked her thumb in my direction.
“Yep, just couldn’t resist that charm,” Noel said, blinking pointedly up at me and earning a laugh from our new companion. This might have been a mistake.
“Jameson?!Charming? Girl, I think you’re confused. This man has the finesse of a brick through a window.”
Noel burst out in unapologetic laughter, free hand rushing up to cover her mouth like she could contain it. “Oh, you have stories to tell, don’t you?”
“Fordays.”
Wiggling, Noel trilled, “Oh, do share with the class!”
“Oh boy,” I muttered, tugging at the back of my neck. This was bound to be equal parts entertaining and humiliating. Not sure what the hell else I’d expected, I just shook my head.
Rose waved me away, vaguely toward the bar. “Be a doll and go fetch us a Northern Spice, and then come get comfy. It’s going to be a long night.”
SEVENTEEN
NOEL
To my absolute surprise and delight, Jameson had been brought to heel by a five-foot-one blonde with the world’s biggest brown eyes. Rosalie was a curvy, early-thirties bombshell who oozed boss bitch energy, and I fucking loved it. For good reason, because she owned the local spa in town, along with shares in the coffee shop downtown and now, the brewery.Whenthe woman slept was beyond me.
Looking simultaneously annoyed and amused, my grumpy fake boyfriend arrived back at the corner booth with a tray of sample-sized glasses, and I settled in for one hell of a night. She wore a graphic T with some kind of band logo tied at her waist and distressed high-top jeans over what looked like cowgirl boots. Her long blonde hair was neatly curled, and minimal makeup had been expertly applied.
When she told me she had stories about Jameson for days, she wasn’t exaggerating. They’d been friends since childhood, and it seemed a great deal of his fuck-ups had been in Rosalie’s presence, to my utter satisfaction. Mistyvale was…small.
“Anywhere With You” by Jake Owen came on the stereo right as Jameson skirted off to order nachos. The rest of the family was playing pool, or out on the dance floor, all seeming quite content with the hand they’d drawn. I was sufficiently buzzed and beyond content when Rosalie leaned forward, placing her hand over mine and leaning in so conspiratorially I had no choice but to follow suit.
“You know, I could never have gotten here without Jameson.”
“What?” I asked, quirking my head.
“Well, at least it would have been a hell of a lot harder. He tried to gift me the startup cash for the spa.” When my eyes widened, she nodded. “I know. That little curmudgeon is such a softie when it really boils down to it.” Her words made me burst out laughing, earning a mischievous grin as she continued, “Claimed he’d been fishing since high school, was young, single, and childless, and tried to gift me twenty grand. I refused.”
“Naturally.”
“But he wore me down, allowed it to be an investment but refused to take more than two percent interest, and it couldn’t accrue for the first five years.”
“What?” I asked, bewilderment resting like carbonation bubbles in my chest. I turned to watch as he rested his corded forearms on the bar, waiting for Dan to make his way on over to order.
“Yep. I knew he was trying to help me get my feet under me, but still.” She shook her head. “I give him shit because he likes it that way, and nothing makes him vanish faster than compliments or thank you's, but my wife and I could never have done this without him. When my son was little, he’d even watch him for me while I worked if he wasn’t out on the water.”
Something in my chest tightened as I watched him patiently wave an older gentleman in front of him in line at the bar, allowing him to order first.
“He can grumble and be a real Johnny Rain Cloud when he wants to, but when it comes down to it, he’s a damn good man. We’ve partnered in a few other ventures after I paid him back. I insisted, of course, though he could have cared less. When Tara and I decided to go in on the brewery, I hadn’t even had time to ask or present projections, and he was pulling out a checkbook, grumbling about how overdue we were for a local brew. Called it apublic service,” she said with a laugh. The adoration in her eyes was enough to make the best woman wobbly. “He called Rhyett, and within the hour, we had our first client.”
